Starching-machine.



No. 684,l0|.` Patented Gct. 8, |901. W. H. RICKEY.

STARCHING MACHINE.

(Application led Nov. 14, 1899.) (No Model.) 3 Shaets-$heet l.

No. sa4,|o|. Patented oct. a, |901. w. H. mcKEY.

STARGHING MACHINE.

(Application ma Nav. 14, 1899.) (N0 Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W/imsses: I Inl/622502@ f ,Mw 1 diga/6%@ v A No. a4,m|. Patented om. s,|901.

w. H.l mcKEv.

STARCHING MACI'UNE.

(Application lled Nov. 14, 199.). (No Model.) ASSheeta-Sheet 3.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAINI HENRY RIOKEY, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY. v

STARCHING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 684,101, dated October8, 1901.

Application tiled November 14. 1899. Serial No. 736.933. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HENRY RICKEY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of East Orange, in the county of Essexl and Stateof New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStarching-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for starching collars, cuffs, andsimilar articles, and has for its object to provide a machine of thecharacter referred to which will be simple, inexpensive, and durable inconstruetion and eiiicient and rapid in operation.

To these ends lnyinvention consists in the features and in theconstruction, combination, and arrangement of parts hereinafterdescribed, and particularly pointed out in the claims following thedescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming apar-t of this specification, wherein- Figure l is a view in sideelevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof.Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view 0f the starching-vat and itscontained mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the adjustablesupport for the deliveryroller. Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of theguide-rollers, one of the journals thereof being shown in section. Fig.6 is a perspective view of a part of the delivery-frame, showing thedelivery-roller, its adjustable support, the delivery-blade, and themeans for adjusting the delivery-roller; and Fig. 7 is a detailperspective View ofthe gearing for driving the starching mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the referenceletter cl. indicates the frameof the machine, which may be of any approved construction,

and centrally supported between the sides of having inwardly-slopingsides r, which serve to guide the feet of the frame to their seat on thesupport and hold them in place therein. Seated on said support is aroller-supporting frame s, consisting of two metallic skeleton sidesrigidly connected together. J ournaled in said frame arefoursaturating-rollers t t t t', each polygonal in'cross-section, theaxes of the rollers't t t being arranged at the apices of a triangle, asshown, and said rollers being arranged in relatively close proximity andbelow the normal level of the starch, so that said rollers will at alltimes be submerged in the starch contained in the tank.

The roller t' is journaled in the frame above i-n lugs g', formed on theframe, the central Y screws being also supported in anupper'longitudinally-connecting barof the frame. It

will be obvious that by turning the set-screws g in one direction or theother the bearings 'i n3, and with them the guide-rollers,will beadjusted up or down. Journaled in the sides of the frame ct, over therear end of the starchtank, are two guide-rollers and in rear of thesaid rollers is disposed the delivery-roller z', to be hereinafter morefully referred to.

Passing about the guide-roller u', the ysaturating-rollers t, t, t, andt', around the delivery-roller t', over the guide-roller Q0', and underthe guideroller u is an endless apron` Z, which I term a feed anddelivery apron, and passingV around the guide-roller az, beneath theguide-roller u, aboutv the guideroller u2, and about thesaturating-rollers t, t, t, and t is an endless apron Z', which I term apressing-apron, said aprons traveling in the direction indicated by thearrows in Fig. 3.

The delivery-roller t' is journaled at its 0pposite ends in bearings t",projecting upward from the opposite ends of a transverse bar or supportj, which rests .on the deliveryframe d. The ends of the bar] are bentunder and inward and engage the grooves d', formed in the sides of thedelivery-frame, and are free to travel therein, the ends of said barprojecting sufficiently beyond the sides of the delivery-frame to permitsaid bar to have a limited oscillating movement in a horizontal plane.Atransversc rod K is xed in the ends of the delivery-frame, and iiXedcentrally on said rod is a bearing-block K', in which is journaled theunthreaded end of an adjusting-screw 7c', provided on its rear end witha hand- Wheel 6. The forward threaded end of the adjusting-screw worksin a nut 7c, provided on its upper side with a pivot 7c3, which looselyTpasses through the center of the barj, whereby the latter is capable ofbeing oscillated in a horizontal plane about said pivot for the purposehereinafter explained. For the purpose of oscillating the loaryl aboutits pivot I provide a rod 5 at one side of the machine, the rear end ofsaid rod being attached to an Vextension G/ on one end of the barj, theother end of said rod being slotted, as at 5', and straddling a fixedprojection 5, which serves as a guide for the rod. The front end of therod is movably supported in a bracket 5,projecting laterally from theside of the frame a. The slot 5 and fixed projection may, if desired, bedispensed with. It will be obvious that by moving said rod forward orbackward the bar j will be oscillated about its pivot, and any suitablemeans may be provided for holding the rod stationary to hold the barj inits adjusted position.

Disposed in rear of the delivery-roller c' is a delivery or take-offblade consisting of a metallic blade m, segmentshaped in cross-sectionand tapering off to a knife-edge at its upper front portion. Said bladeis provided with numerous square apertures m', and at its oppositeendsis provided with trunnions fm2, which are journaled in bearings m3,fixed to the roller-supporting bar j. By forming Athe apertures in thedelivery-blade as shown the friction between said blade and the collarsand ends is reduced, and the weight of the blade is also reduced. Asteam-pipe O leads from anysuitable source of steam-su pply and deliverssteam in the lower portion of the starch-tank to keep the starch warm, asteam-trap q being interposed between sections of the steam-pipe tocollect the water of condensation and prevent the latter from enteringthe starch-tank.

Journaled in the frame of the machine is a transverse shaft E, on oneend of which is fixed a pulley e, which may be driven from any suitablesource of power, or a crank may be provided for driving the shaft byhand. On the hub of the pulley e is formed one member e of aratchet-clutch, the other member e2 of which is formed on the hub of asmall gear-wheel e3, the hub and gear-wheel being splined on the shaftE, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 7. A circumferentially groovedcollareA1 is also formed on or attached to the hub of the gear-wheel e,and engaging said grooved collar is the forked end of a shifting-leverh, which is pivoted intermediate its ends to a bracket h on one side ofthe frame ct. Also journaled in the sides of the frame ct is atransverse shaft F, on one end of which is fixed a relatively largegear-wheel f, which is adapted to gear with the gearwheel e3, and alsofixed on the shaft F is a small gear-wheel f', which gears with twosimilar gearwheels f2 and f3, respectively, fixed on the shafts of theguide-rollers and az. It will be obvious that when the members e' and c2of the clutch are in engagement and the pulley c is rotated the gears f2and f3, and consequently the guide-rollers .0c and w, will be rotated inthe same directions through the medium of the gears e3, f, and f andwill tend to move the aprons Z and Z in the direction indicated by thearrows in Fig. 3. The ends of the guide-roller :t and of the shaft onwhich the saturating-roller t is mounted project beyond the side of theframe that is opposite to the side on which is mounted the gearingbefore referred to, and fixed on the projecting ends of said shafts aresprocketwheels l 1, which are geared together by a chain Z. It will bereadily seen that as the guide-rollers fc and x are rotated by thegearing in the manner described the saturatingroller t will also berotated by the sprocket Wheels and chain, and by the rotation of therollers 0c, 0c', and t the belts Z and l Will be driven.

The frame s is removably seated in the starch-tank, a slot zu beingformed in one side of said tank for the reception of the extended end ofthe shaft carrying the saturating-roller t and to permit of said shaftbeing lifted in and out of the tank with the frame s and the otherrollers carried by said frame. In order to rigidly hold the frame s toits seat in the tank and to adjust the tension of the aprons, twojointed braces 2 are provided on opposite sides of the starch-tank, eachof said braces comprising two metallic bars pivoted together at theircontiguous ends, as at 4, the outer end of one of said jointed membersbeing notched or forked, as shown, to engage a pin or projection 3 onthe side of the removable frame, and the outer end of the other memberbeing provided with a recess 3, in which loosely fits the threaded endof ascrew 3b. A nut 3 is rotatably secured on the recessed end of thejoint-ed member and engages the screw 3b, and the latter is provided'with an eye 3C, which loosely encircles a transverse rod 3, fixed in aframe a'. It will be understood that there are two such braces, one oneach side of the starch-tank. To remove the frame s, the elbow bracesare broken at their j oints-that is to say, the two members of eachbrace are raised upward about the pivot a-causing the forked end to bedisengaged from the pin 3. The frame .s and its rollersl may then befreely lifted out IOO IIO

of thestarch-tank. When the frame is replaced in the tank, the forkedends of the braces are engaged with the pins on the frame and saidbraces are straightened out, thus firmly bracing the frame against thedrawing action of the aprons. Vhen it becomes necessary, the tension ofthe aprons can be adjusted by turning the nuts 3', thereby lengtheningor shortening the braces. When the braces are straightened out,stop-pins 33 operate to prevent the braces from being depressed beyond ahorizontal position.

The endless aprons are made of stout linen or similar materialpractically impervious to starch. In order to facilitate the properoperation of the guide-rollers and prevent drawing superflous starchbetween the guiderollers and the aprons which, would have a tendency tocause bunching and uneven running of the aprons, I corrugate the guideand delivery rollers, as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. The corrugations areformed circumferentially on the rollers and are parallel with oneanother, so that no scraping or scratching effect is produced on theaprons.

As shown in Fig. 5, the guide-rollers are each mounted on acopper-plated steel shaft 7, provided at its ends with brass ferrules orcollars 8, which constitute journals. By this means I avoid steeljournals running in brass bearings, which, as is well known, isobjectionable.

The operation of my improved machine is as follows: To introduce thestarch into the tank the frame s, with its rollers, is raised out of thetank, the starch is placed in the latter, the frame is replaced andbraced in position, and steam admitted through the pipe O. The machineis put in to operation by the described driving mechanism, causing theaprons to travel about their rollers in the manner de scribed and in thedirection indicated by the arrows. The operator places the collars, cus,or other articles to be starched between the two aprons as they passaround between the guide-rollers u u2. These aprons operate to draw thearticles down into and through the starch, and as they pass around thepolygonal rollerst t t the latter operate to press the starch into thearticles. After they emerge from the starch they are submitted to afurther and iinal compression between the two aprons by the polygonalroller t. After the articles pass under the guide-roller a: they 'arecarried by the apron Zto the deliveryroller 11, and as the apron passesaround this roller the delivery-blade engages the under sides of thearticles and strips them from off the apron and discharges them into anysuitable receptacle provided for their reception. The surplus starchdropped from the apronl drops into a tray n, suspended beneath thedelivery-frame. If the apron Z should run unevenly from any causeas, forexample, when the apron stretches more at one edge than the other-it maybe remedied by oscillating or turning the bar j about its pivot, so

as to present the delivery-roller ata greater or less angle to thedelivery-frame, and thus prevent the tendency of the apron running toone side. In other Words, the apron is thus slackened on one side and,simultaneously tightened on the other. rlhe tension of the apronl canalso bev regulated in an obvious manner by turning the set-screw 7c.

I-Iaving described my invention, what I claim isl. Inastarching-maehine, the combination with a starch-tank, of aroller-frame removably seated in said tank, rollers in said frame,aprons passing around said rollers and jointed braces for said frame,the sections of which are pivoted to each other and respectively to astationary part and to said frame, substantially as described.

2. In a starching-machine, the combination with a delivery-roller and anapron passing around the same, of a transversely-extending bar on whichsaid roller is journaled, the said bar being pivotally mounted at apoint intermediate its ends, a transversely-extending delivery-bladehinged upon said bar and having a sharp edge lying in close relation tosaidapron as it passes around said roller, and means for oscillatingsaid bar, tially as described.

3. In a starching-machine, the combination with a starch-tank, of aroller-frame removably seated in the starch-tank, a pair of endlessaprons, suitable feeding, guiding and saturating rollers carrying theaprons and journaled in the frame, guide-rollers and a delivery-rollermounted on the machine-frame the delivery-roller being in rear of thestarchtank, jointed braces each pivoted at its rear end to a, fixturecarried by the machineframe and engaging a projection on the side of theroller-frame, and adapted to be folded to disengage said projections,and stops for holding the jointed braces in their straightenedpositions, substantially as described.

Ll. In astarching-machine, the combination with a starch-tank, of aroller-frame removably seated in said tank, rollers in said frame,aprons passing around said rollers, and jointed braces for said frame,the sections of which are pivoted to each other, one section of eachbrace being pivoted to said frame and the other section thereof beingadjustably and pivotally connected to a 'stationary part, whereby thebraces may be lengthened or shortened to vary the tension of the aprons,substantially as described.

5. In a starching-machine, the combination with the frame of themachine, of a starchtank supported thereon, a pair of endless aprons,suitable guiding, feeding and saturating rollers carrying the aprons,means for driving the rollers and aprons, a deliveryframe in rear of thetank provided with grooves in its outer sides, a supporting-bar providedwith bearings and having inwardly1 turned ends engaging and traveling insaid grooves, said bar being mounted centrally on substan-l IOO a pivot,means for oscillating the bar about its pivot, and a delivery-rollerjournaled in the bearings carried by the said bar, and about which thedelivery-apron passes, substantially as described.

G. In astarching-inachine, the combination with the frame of themachine, of a starchtanl; supported thereon, a pair of endless aprons,suitable guiding, feeding and saturating rollers carrying the aprons,means for driving the rollers and aprons, a deliveryframe in rear of thestarch-tank provided with grooves-in its outer sides, a supportingbarprovided with bearings and having inwardly-turned ends engaging andtraveling in said grooves, a block arranged centrally beneath thesupporting-bar and provided with a pivot about which tbe supporting-baris arranged to oscillate, a set-screw for moving said block and bartoward and from the starch-tank,and a delivery-roller about which thedelivery-apron passes, said roller being journaled in the bearingscarried by the supporting-bar, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county ofNeW York and State of New York, this13th day of November, A. D. 1899.

WILLIAM HENRY RICKEY.

Witnesses:

M. D. COMPTON, A. S'rnTsoN.

